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Lallana fit to face Denmark

Adam Lallana will be fit to play for England tomorrow night despite missing training through injury.

The Saints midfielder was one of five players forced to sit out yesterday’s session after a knock he sustained during the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday.

However, he did still face members of the press later in the day and insisted he will be fine to face Denmark at Wembley tomorrow night.

“I just picked up a slight knock at the weekend,” said Lallana.

“I am absolutely fine.”

Both Lallana and former Saints colleague Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain praised the performances of Luke Shaw as the Southampton full-back looks set to make his England debut tomorrow night.

The 18-year-old has been named alongside Ashley Cole and Leighton Baines as manager Roy Hodgson evaluates his options at left-back ahead of naming his World Cup squad on May 13.

Shaw, who alongside Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert makes up a quartet of Saints players in Hodgson’s 30-man squad for Wednesday’s meeting with Denmark, has enjoyed an impressive season so far and Lallana admits it came as no surprise to see his clubmate named in the senior set-up.

“I’m not surprised at all,” he said. "He has been an outstanding for us all season. He looks like a seasoned pro and it was no surprise to see he was included in the squad.

“There are two outstanding players ahead of him but he will keep his feet on the ground.

“He knows he is going to learn off them and if he watches them closely in training he knows it is going to do him good. It was massive news not just for himself but for his family. I know his family well from being at the club, it was a very proud moment for him.”

Meanwhile Oxlade-Chamberlain, pictured below, a product of the Saints academy himself and another man who made his England debut at 18, has hailed Shaw’s form.

“I think he has been absolutely outstanding,” he said.

“The maturity he has been playing with and the consistency level has been unbelievable.

“He has shot up and has matured and grown physically, he has taken that into the first team at Southampton and it has been a rapid rise for him but he has handled it really well. It is really good to see him here.”

Oxlade-Chamberlain travelled with England to Ukraine and Poland for Euro 2012 as a young player and admits the experience will help him in the future.

“For me, going to the Euros was a massive experience and it almost came as a surprise to see my name selected for that," he added.

Shaw’s involvement means it is the first England squad ever named to contain four Southampton players as Lallana, Lambert and Rodriguez look to add to their caps since breaking into the international fold over the past 12 months.

Lambert was the first of the quartet to break into Hodgson's squad and Lallana revealed the striker’s inclusion gave Southampton's other English talent renewed hope of making the grade.

"Seeing Rickie being involved gave everyone an extra 10 per cent of belief," he said. “It it proves how far the club has come.”

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